At the White House daily briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders clarified that the president did not regret intervening in the case when asked about the tweet, and that he was happy to see their release.

“The president was certainly very glad and thankful to see the release of the three UCLA athletes by the Chinese government,” Sanders said.

Sanders was then asked if the president really believed he should have left the players in jail, to which Sanders said, “No, I think if that was the case he wouldn’t have taken the action that he did, and acted in order to help get those individuals released and brought back to the country.”

When asked why President Trump tweeted, “I should have left them in jail!” when he did not believe that he should have left the players in jail, Sanders said that his words were meant as “a rhetorical response to a criticism of the father.”